“We’re building an organization where designations do not define hierarchy,” affirm three mettlesome founders Akash Bhaltadak, Gaurav Sandhya and Azam Shaikh.
Tight the Nut, their technology driven platform facilitates swift two-wheeler service city-wide with a chain of TTN standardized, certified service stations.
We met up with with co-founder Azam who talks about the startup and walks us through a day in his life at Tight the Nut.
Kickstarting his day with a jog at sunrise, Azam admits that operations executives at the startup are on the field by half past seven. “We’re always open for calls and field issues in the morning. “Aligning meetings with vendors followed by manpower related work follows from 9.30 am,” says Azam who loves interacting with vendors and customers.
When we meet co-founders Akash Bhaltadak and Gaurav Sandhya, Azam asserts, “Akash is a guy who is charming and he heads sales and marketing at TTN. An innovative approach for customer acquisition is his mastery. I think, it is his never say no, attitude that motivates our team to go beyond the traditional approach of sales.”
Startup Essentials
The ultimate destination for 2-wheeler service and repair, Tight the Nut has catered to over 13,000 bikes.
Their App connects customers to TTN service stations and the TTN-Breakdown Assistance facilitates quick support with a click.
The startup offers a live service tracking system and is growing exponentially.
Gaurav is the head of finance for the company. “His astute observations on daily finance and vendor negotiations are a joy to watch,” adds Azam. “He is such a calm personality and an awesome chef. He makes sure us founders are energized with his innovative recipes at the lunch table,” beams the co-founder.
Speaking about the role he plays at the startup, Azam shares, “I make sure our strategies and growth plans are broken down into shorter goals, only to be discussed in brainstorming sessions. Quiz him about the key parameters that gauge their performance and he explains that these include quality ratings, the percentage of repeat complaints and organic reach. “In addition to these, the ESI (Employee Satisfaction Index) is another important parameter that monitors our performance,” he shares.
Post lunch, the co-founders are busy in the office managing workflow, analyzing their business strategies and tracking their timelines. “We make sure we are on track every day,” explains Azam adding that TTN is currently operational city-wide with 19 authorized service stations, and three dedicated corporate setups.
Our fantastic back end team ensures every booking is confirmed a day in advance.
I personally check the TTN CRM every day for pending vehicles, reasons for pendency, complete cycle time, etc.
It aids in understanding the demand pattern against time and geography along with cycle time for each process.
Currently we use the BI tool readily available in the market. However, we’re in the process of developing the same in-house.”
“We have a team of 15 with an additional 6 as project trainees and interns at TTN,” adding that they make sure everyone in the team feels like family. “Gaurav ensures this is implemented with lots of team outings, dinner parties and celebrations,” says the co-founder who is all praise for his team.
“Come early evening, and we catch up on startup-related news and track recent technological innovations. We study the competition and brainstorm each day.
CEO After Hours
Weekends see him teaching and mentoring kids at an Orphanage in Hadapsar.
A trekking enthusiast, Azam prefers getting back to nature on occasion, exploring forts in the Sahyadri.
Weekend evenings always ends with a hot cuppa coffee over meeting an old friend.
The man who enjoys reading also plays the Flute and the Harmonica some nights
“Recently we’ve come up with an innovative solution in last mile transportation. Though we’re off home by 9pm, we do have one last call around 10 where the three of us discuss manpower issues, skill upgrade potential for the staff and organization culture among other things,” discloses Azam.
Talking about what lies ahead, the co-founder discloses, “We’re looking for funds to allow for technology upgrades.
Currently we’re upscaling in three more cities and are in talks with a few investors,” he signs off.
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#Pune365 takes this opportunity to wish Tight The Nut, their energetic founders and team much success !
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